The Adhesion‐Enhanced Contact Electrification and Efficiency of Triboelectric Nanogenerators

Abstract

In the present work, the contact electrification of polymers that differ in adhesion strength is studied. Electrical current is measured along with adhesion in macroscale contacting‐separation experiments. Additionally, local adhesion and roughness are studied with atomic force microscopy to get deeper insight into relations between surface properties and electrification. Measurements reveal that higher surface charge is formed on more adhesive surfaces, thus confirming covalent bond cleavage as a mechanism for contact electrification of polymers. Investigated materials possess enhanced contact electrification making them attractive candidates for the conversion of mechanical energy to electrical in triboelectric nanogenerator devices.

Matching the Directions of Electric Fields from Triboelectric and Ferroelectric Charges in Nanogenerator Devices for Boosted Performance

“…The performance of a TENG device is very different depending on whether a positive or negative voltage is applied for poling (Figure 2), regardless of the polymer used. This phenomenon of one polarization direction resulting in a larger impact than the other is widely reported before (Bai et al, 2014;Suo et al, 2016;Lee et al, 2016;Sutka et al, 2018;Lap cinskis et al, 2019;Kim et al, 2019;Huang et al, 2020); however, the explanation provided for that has been inaccurate. We argue that the observed difference can be explained by elementary match and mismatch between the directions of the electric field from the ferroelectric dipole moment and the dipole moment created by triboelectric charges.…”

“…The most obvious way is to increase the specific contact area via nanostructuring (Zhang et al, 2015;Dudem et al, 2015;Zheng et al, 2014). Another possibility is the modification of surface or physicochemical properties of the triboelectric material Lap cinskis et al, 2019;Fan et al, 2014;Yun et al, 2015;Wang et al, 2016). The performance can be also enhanced by using ferroelectric polymer or composite films as the contacting surfaces (Bai et al, 2014;Seung et al, 2017;Suo et al, 2016;Chun et al, 2015;Yang and Daoud, 2017;Choi et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2016;Sutka et al, 2018;Lap cinskis et al, 2019;Kim et al, 2019;Huang et al, 2020).…”

“…Another possibility is the modification of surface or physicochemical properties of the triboelectric material Lap cinskis et al, 2019;Fan et al, 2014;Yun et al, 2015;Wang et al, 2016). The performance can be also enhanced by using ferroelectric polymer or composite films as the contacting surfaces (Bai et al, 2014;Seung et al, 2017;Suo et al, 2016;Chun et al, 2015;Yang and Daoud, 2017;Choi et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2016;Sutka et al, 2018;Lap cinskis et al, 2019;Kim et al, 2019;Huang et al, 2020). State-of-the-art performance of ferroelectric material-based TENG devices can be expected when the ferroelectric material layers on contacting sides of the device are inversely polarized ( Sutka et al, 2018;Lap cinskis et al, 2019).…”

“…The performance can be also enhanced by using ferroelectric polymer or composite films as the contacting surfaces (Bai et al, 2014;Seung et al, 2017;Suo et al, 2016;Chun et al, 2015;Yang and Daoud, 2017;Choi et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2016;Sutka et al, 2018;Lap cinskis et al, 2019;Kim et al, 2019;Huang et al, 2020). State-of-the-art performance of ferroelectric material-based TENG devices can be expected when the ferroelectric material layers on contacting sides of the device are inversely polarized ( Sutka et al, 2018;Lap cinskis et al, 2019). The contacted inversely polarized layers then act similarly to a series of connected capacitors (Lap cinskis et al, 2019).…”

“…State-of-the-art performance of ferroelectric material-based TENG devices can be expected when the ferroelectric material layers on contacting sides of the device are inversely polarized ( Sutka et al, 2018;Lap cinskis et al, 2019). The contacted inversely polarized layers then act similarly to a series of connected capacitors (Lap cinskis et al, 2019). The total capacitance of the system decreases dramatically, whereas the potential difference increases as the air gap is created during separation.…”